Just make sure you are saving towards those slow months during the peak months, buy a deal at the right price (don't overpay just because its a turnkey STR or you think it will make more money than projected), and look into ways to increase bookings during those slow months with some marketing and operation tweaks. 

It is a tough market and there's nothing wrong with taking a breather and waiting for things to stabilize while focusing on savings and education.

Although I saved 20-30k by doing everything myself and learned a ton in the process, doing that sucked up all my time and potentially stopped me from buying multiple multis last year.

I am using this time to educate myself while saving up for my first property.

That means that you can buy a house on the South side -- identical to one on the North side and in its doppleganger (save race) neighborhood -- for literally a $100,000 less than you can on the North side.

If you don't intend to do that right away then do the 20% and save the extra cash flow.

Many opt for other investing methods in their SDIRA like private lending, crypto, private equity...anything except collectibles and life insurance.Note that a Solo 401k is exempt from UBIT on leveraged real estate so if you have self employment activity and no full time employees save for you and your spouse you should consider the Solo K as an option. 

Despite being assured that there would be significant tax savings on my 2023 taxes, there were no cost savings or advantages to having paid $5,000 for strategy in that tax year.

I have a large lump sum saved in an investment account for down-payment and any additional costs.

I'm in good standing with a 810 credit score, no debt, and about $100k in savings.